Help From and Old Friend
by This.Fandom.Nerd1018
Summary: Merther Girl Merlin Magic reveal Uther finds out Arthur's feelings for Merlin and tries to get rid of her. Merlin, having no other choice, turns to the one person Uther cant hurt. On the run with a new companion, Merlin helps a druid camp of kids. Uther is hunting Merlin, and Arthur is running around trying to stop it all. Crap summery but a better story (I hope) please review
1. Chapter 1

Arthur thought of himself as a noble man, he was fair to his people, treated servants properly, but there was just something about Merlin that always got under his skin. Maybe it was the fact that the young woman always spoke her mind, not caring who she was speaking to. Or maybe it was that she called Arthur out on his flaws. Perhaps it was that he cared for her but couldn't show it because she was a servant and he a prince. Maybe it was all of her rolled into one.

"Rise and shine, sire!" Merlin announced happily as she drew the curtains in his bedchambers aside.

"Ugh, Merlin not today," he muttered into his pillow. Merlin, being her usual self, ignored him and opened all the windows before picking out an outfit for him to wear. After Arthur got dressed and ready for his day, he went to train with his knights, only to see them all hangover from their night out together. Then he ran into Morgan, who was being her usual bitchy self. And to top the whole day off, his father called him into the throne room to tell him that he wasn't doing a good enough job being the prince of Camelot.

"Arthur, if you are to take the throne one day you can't be this was."

Arthur glared up at his father, "And what way would that be?"

"You can't be so friendly, son. You can't give every struggling farmer money, you can't excuse every servant from their mistakes, and you certainly can't be friends with any of the staff. You are the prince, you need to be making connections and thinking about the wealth and prosperity of the Kingdom. I understand that you want to help all of our subjects, but you simply cannot."

After Uther finished his rant, Arthur turned on his heel and stormed out of the room, waving for Merlin to follow him.

When they arrived at his room Arthur immediately flopped onto his bed and covered his face with his arm.

"Sire…?" Merlin attentively asked. When she didn't get an answer she tried again.  
"Arthur, are you ok?" at that Arthur stood up and stepped toward her, "You know what Merlin, and no I am not ok. You know why?" when Merlin shook her head he continued, "Well, for starters, my knights all went out for a drink last night without me, and not only did they not think about their duties today, but they drunk themselves silly and I can't train knights that can't stand without assistance!"

Merlin opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off, "And not only that, but when I ran into Morgana today, she was horrible! She yelled and said things that she would have never said to me months ago, and was overall, a monster to me! And then to top it all off my father. Oh my, did I want to hurt him. He called me out on everything that I thought I was doing right and decided that not only saying that I was a failure as a prince was enough; he did it in front of the entire court, where everyone saw! And I mean seriously, did he have to bring up the fact that I'm kind to servant, I mean really. What does he expect; does he want me to be cruel? It's not like I would ever think of lying with one! Look at you for example; do you really think that I would ever think about being with someone like _you?"_

The second the words were out of his mouth he regretted them. The look on Merlins face broke his heart. She looked as if someone had punched her. Her mouth hung open slightly and her eyes watered a bit before she composed herself again.

"I am sorry sire if us being friends has caused you problems," was all she said before bowing slightly and excusing herself from his room.

'What have I done?'

The next morning Merlin crept into the princes chamber and opened his curtains, but without her usual exclamation of the beautiful day. When the light hit Arthur he opened his eyes and saw Merlin place some plates from a tray onto his table before she politely stepped out of his rooms once again.

The next time Arthur saw Merlin, he was on the training fields. He was in the middle of a spar with Gwaine when he glanced up and saw Merlin standing with Gwen and it looked like Gwen was attempting to comfort her friend. In his moment of distraction, Gwaine took his opportunity and knocked the prince to the ground.

Normally, Merlin would have jogged over laughing that the great and might Prince Arthur lost, but today, she just walked away.

When Gwaine helped Arthur stand he said, "Ok princess, what happened?"

"I don't know what you mean, you hit me and I fell."

At that Gwaine rolled his eyes, "No, I meant with Merlin. She seems different today. Lovers' quarrel?"

Arthur sputtered a response but it fell on deaf ears because Gwaine was too busy laughing at the prince's face.

"Yes, I know you have feelings for Merlin. And I hope you now that if you have, or ever do hurt her I will gladly kill you," Gwaine said with his best big brother look, before turning and walking away.

When Arthur stepped into his chambers the first thing he saw was Merlin.

"Merlin, may I have a word with you." She looked up from stoking the fire, her face falling when she realized what he might want talk about.

"Sire," when she said this Arthur almost flinched at her saddened tone, "If this is about yesterday, you can forget about it. If you want me to quit because you don't appreciate my feelings than that's fine, but I won't listen to you insult me anymore." Arthur looked at her, his face full of shock, but before he could say anything she continued, "Your father was wrong about you being a failure of a prince, but his words did not require you to talk to me the way you did, and I will not hear it again. I would quit my job in a heartbeat. I came here to study under Gaius and I got my job with you. I didn't mind at first but your insults have finally gotten the best of me and I am tired of it…"

Following this statement was Merlin listing off all of the things that she did for him in the past, excluding the magical assistance.

"…I have done everything you have asked and more, so please take that into consideration for your next servant."

Arthur stared at her, his mouth open, feeling bad for his words to her, before he started to get angry. Angry with himself. Angry with the world. Angry that Merlin wasn't happy being his servant.

"Merlin, if you hated your job so much than you should have quit before you wiggled your way into my life. You are a servant and you have no place making me fool bad for my choices. If the king says I am not doing my job correctly, you are not to question him. If I say that I wouldn't have a relationship with a servant you best forget about any feelings. I am a prince and you are a servant. Any relationship would never work. Never. Even if I wanted one with you, I couldn't. So don't get any ideas."

Little did they know that the King had a servant outside the prince's door, listing to every word they said.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey everyone! I just wanted to say thank you! I did not think that anyone would read this! Thanks for liking it. I already have a few chapters written so I'll be posting a lot. I plan to post daily if it's possible, but if I miss a day I'll make up for it by making the next chapter extra long.

Enjoy!

"Merlin you must get up, the King wants an audience with you," Gaius said. Merlin sat straight up in bed.  
"What? Why? Does he know? Oh God what if he kills me? I don't want to burn!" Merlin yelled, almost becoming hysteric at the thought of dying at the hands of Uther.

"Merlin, calm down. I don't think that the King knows about our magic, but I'm not certain why he wants an audience. You need to go to him now."

After quickly making herself look presentable, Merlin rant to the throne room, where the King would be waiting for her to arrive.

When she walked into the room, she was surprised to only see the King. She approached the throne and bowed her head, "You summonsed me Sire?"

"Yes. It seems that I have a problem on my hands here. It has come to my attention that you and my son is very close, are you not?"

She nodded, "Yes Sire, I suppose we are closer than normal servants and masters."

"Yes. Are you in a relationship with my son, Miss Merlin?"

At that her head shot up, "No Sire! I am not."

"I see. Well, then it seems my boy has a crush on a certain servant then, because my sources tell me that yesterday he was heard telling Sir Gwaine that he had quite the infatuation with you."

 _'_ _Oh god, oh no, what does he want from me'_ thought Merlin.

"As you can imagine, if rumors spread about the prince of Camelot being in love with a serving girl, it would be quite a problem. So, my dear Merlin, I am sad to say that you must be subtracted from the situation."

Tears in her eyes she looked up at the King, "What are you going to do with me?"

"I am accusing you of sorcery. You are to be burned on the pyre at first light. I am terribly sorry," he announced. When she looked at his eyes he did look truly sorry, but he was doing what he thought was best for the Kingdom.

"Guards! Seize her and take her to the dungeons, you know the drill," was all he said before standing and walking out of the room.

The guards rushed in and, non to gently, grabbed her arms and led her out of the throne room and through the halls.

On their trip to the dungeon they passed the Knights. "MERLIN?" Gwaine shouted, she turned her head and the last thing she saw was the Knights shocked faces before the door to the dungeon closed.

The guards threw her into a cell and locked the door before walking away, probably to drink the night away. Merlin sat, huddled in the corner of the small room, and waited for an idea to pop into her head. She must have dozed off, because the next thing she knew, Arthur was standing outside her cell.

"Merlin! Are you ok? What happened! My father said a guard caught you practicing magic! Are you a sorcerer?"

Deciding not to lie to him, Merlin chose to say, "I did not do what your father accused me of."  
Arthur fell silent and stared at her for a bit longer before realizing she wasn't going to say anything else before he slowly walked away, looking back at her the entire time.

After another few hours of thinking, Merlin still didn't know what to do. She wasn't going to sit back and let Uther kill her. She couldn't go back to Ealdor because then the King might hurt her mother. She couldn't go to any of her friends, because that would put them at risk. If the king wanted her dead, he wouldn't hesitate to hurt others. So that stopped her from going to anyone. She wouldn't risk Gaius, Gwen, Lady Morgana, the Druids, or even Arthur, no matter how much of a prat he was.  
That's when she had a great idea.

Ok, so that's the end of the chapter, but I'll be back tomorrow! Thanks ya'll!


	3. Chapter 3

Ok! Here's another chapter for you guys! I hope you like it!

She walked to the cell door and murmured a simple spell, " _recludam," and_ the door popped open, before she crept down the corridor. When she got to where the guards were she used another spell, _"somnis_ ," to put them to sleep, before going down another long hallway, towards the last friend she could go to.

"Kilgharrah! I need your help!" she yelled when she got to the huge stone cavern. She heard the beat of his wings, and then saw him swoop down and land on the ground.

"What is it my child? What troubles you?"

Merlin then explained what happened between her and Arthur, and then her and Uther before she felt the tears drip down her cheeks.

"Can I stay down here with you? Just for a little bit, so I can figure out what to do?"  
The great dragon smiled and responded with, "Of course you can. You may stay down here for as long as you need. Uther would never think to check here for a simple serving girl." And then, with a huge sigh of relief, Merlin climbed down into the cavern and curled up in a hole in the stone and quickly fell asleep.

When she woke, she realized that she hadn't felt this well rested in a very long time. She normally spent all night polishing armor or learning a spell to save the prats life. But now? She didn't have to do anything. She stretched and climbed back up the short cliff and decided to go and spy on the prince prat and his father. " _Translucidum"_ and that was that. She was now invisible and walking back up to the main part of the castle.

Merlin had to remember that even though everyone couldn't see her, they could still run into her, she ran through the halls and darted through the crowds. Lucky for her, it was early morning and only the servants were out. She walked to where Arthur's room was and waited outside, not able to open the door without being detected. When she saw George walking her way with a tray of breakfast, Merlin got close to the door and when he opened the door, she slipped in behind him.

"Sire, you must wake up now," George said, rather nervously. Merlin watched as Arthur rolled out of bed and silently walked to the table where he ate his meal. It was rather heart breaking, watching Arthur do these things without Merlin by his side.

For the rest of the day Merlin followed Arthur around, watching him "train" with the knights, which were them, all sitting in silence and mourning. Merlin wondered what they were told when the guards didn't find her in her cell this morning. Then, when she got bored of watching Arthur, she went to Gaius' room. When she made sure no one else would come in she picked up a quill and quickly wrote a letter to Gaius, telling him that she was alive and that she would find a way to contact him later.

Deciding that she needed to let her friends know that she was alive, she made a quick decision to visit Gwen. She wouldn't stay there, but a visit wouldn't hurt anyone. She walked out of the castle

and walked to Gwen's house. When she got there, the door was locked so Merlin climbed through a window at the back of the house. Once she was inside she decided to take off her spell.

" _Sentita,"_ was all it took for Merlin to be back to her visible self again. While she waited for Gwen to get home she decided to clean her friend's house as a way of saying sorry for the worry that Gwen must have had for her. By the time Gwen got home it was late, long after the sun has set and the moon was in the sky.

When Gwen walked through the door, Merlin hid behind a wall, and when Gwen walked past, Merlin jumped out and covered her friend's mouth, so that she didn't make noise. When she saw Gwen's eyes widen she let go.

"Merlin!" Gwen yelled as she hugged her friend. "You're alive? But how?"

"Well, I escaped late yesterday evening and then found a place to stay. I would've come here sooner but I didn't want to put you at risk," Merlin explained. "What did the king say happened to me?"

"Oh Merlin, he said that you had tried to escape last night and the guards had chased you into the woods and shot you! And when Arthur asked what happened to your body the king said that a sorceress didn't deserve a proper burial and that when they killed you, they had left you in the woods," Gwen trailed off, looking at the ground.

"What's wrong?" Merlin inquired.

"Well, it's just…are you really a sorceress?"

Merlin almost laughed, but after a moment's thought, she decided to tell her friend the truth.

"I was born with magic, so yes I am, but that's not what the king had me arrested for," Merlin said, looking Gwen in the eye.

"He didn't? Why were you arrested and marked for death then? He didn't do it out of the blue."

"Well….. The king had a spy following Arthur and Arthur told Gwaine that he had an infatuation with me and the king didn't want rumors to spread that the prince was sleeping with a servant so he wanted me gone. But you know me, I wasn't going to roll over and let him have his ways," Merlin explained with a smile.

Gwen nodded in understanding.

"Um…Merlin. I have a question, but I'm a bit embarrassed to ask you," Gwen murmured, "Could you show me your magic?"

Merlin actually did laugh this time and whispered a spell into her hands, " _Papilionibus_ ," and a dozen or so butterflies flew from her hands. The smile on Gwen's face was enough to encourage Merlin to do another, " _crescere_ _flos_ _"_ and a bouquet of flowers grew in her hand, which she put in a vase on a nearby shelf. Gwen laughed and hugged Merlin again.

"Please don't let me think you're dead ever again. That was not fun."

Merlin giggled, "I don't plan on being thought dead ever again. But Gwen, the only other person who knows I'm alive is Gaius. I haven't told anyone else yet. Tomorrow, could you tell Lance and Gwaine? Only them."

Gwen frowned, "Not even Arthur?"

"Diffidently not Arthur. His father might still have someone watching him. I will tell Arthur myself when I can. Ok?"

Gwen nodded and Merlin and her hugged one last time before Merlin winked and said, " _Translucidum"_ and disappeared.

OK, so that's that. I'll put up another chapter tomorrow! Thanks guys!


	4. Chapter 4

Ok so here is chapter 4! Thank you all!

After sneaking out of Gwen's house and back into the castle, Merlin decides that if she is going to sleep in a cave, she might as well be comfortable. She ran to her bedroom and packed a bag of cloths, a blanket, and her pillow, before going into the main room and putting a small portion of food in her bag. After putting an invisibility spell on her bag, she ran back through the castle and to new cavern home.

"Kilgharrah, I'm back," She announced as she wandered into the cave, wondering where the dragon was. After a few minutes of waiting, she decided he was asleep and made herself a bed.

After her makeshift bed was made she ate an apple and fell into a dreamless sleep.

"Young Warlock, wake up now it is your time!"

Merlin rolled over and was about to yell at Gaius for waking her up so early but then remembered where she was. Sitting up she looked at Kilgharrah and shot him a questioning look.

"What's time?"

"It is time for you to tell your prince that you are alive. The king has taken all spies off of Arthur," he explained. Blushing at the fact that he called Arthur _her_ prince, she stood and ran her fingers through her hair.

"OK, ok I'll go and tell him and explain the situation," she muttered before making herself invisible and wandering through the castle.

When she got to his door, she was surprise to see that the guards were gone. She cracked the door open and slipped inside.

Approaching the bed she thought of the best way to wake him. IF she scared him on accident he might yell and the guards would soon be rushing over to see if he was ok. So, she decided the best plan of action was to gently nudge his shoulder.

"Arthur! Arthur wake up you prat I need to talk to you!" She whisper yelled at him.

"Ugh Merlin go away. The sun isn't even up yet," she heard from under his many blankets. Waiting, she took a step back.

"Merlin!' the prince yelled as he jumped out of bed, the blankets stuck around his legs. Trying to get closer to her he almost fell, but when he rid himself of the blankets, he leapt at her and hugged her.

"Arthur, it's alright, I'm here," she whispered and hugged him back. A minute later he pulled back, still having his arms around her.

"I thought you were dead, I thought my father men killed you! How are you alive?" He yelled.

"Shhhhh, do you want the guards coming in here?" she whispered. Eyes widening, he shook his head and looked her herd in the eye, waiting for an explanation.

"Well, it's kinda a long story…"

"Merlin, we have all night. I want the full story, now."

Sighing, she began her tale.

"Well, do you remember the dragonlord, Balinor? Ya, well, he was my father," seeing his mouth begin to open she put up a finger, "Hear me out and don't interrupt. When Uther chased Balinor out of the kingdom he ran to Ealdor and met my mother, and she got pregnant. Uther was still chasing Balinor so he left to protect my mom. When she gave birth to me I was born with magic." Stopping there she looked up at Arthur. Searching his face she found no emotion, so she continued.

"I was born with it, so that means I didn't have to learn any spell or stuff like that. When I got older my mom wanted me to learn how to control it by learning from Gaius. And before you ask, only Gaius, Gwen and Lance know of my magic." She stopped there, seeing the hurt on Arthurs face.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he whispered. Looking at the ground Merlin said, "I didn't want to make you choose between me and your father. I know you were raised to hate magic so I didn't want to say anything until I knew."

"Knew what? That I wouldn't kill you? Do you think so lowly of me?" he questioned his voice raising with every word.

"Shh and no! I trust you with my life, I didn't wasn't to put you in a situation where you would have to lie to anyone!"

Arthur just looked at her, silent.

"Please leave. I need to be alone and think."

"Arthur, please listen to the rest of what I have to tell you!"

"NO NOW LEAVE AND DON'T COME BACK HERE, SORCERRES," he practically spat the last word.

With that, Merlin walked out of his room, tears in her eyes.

'

ARTHUR POV

 _How could she lie to me? For four years she has been my servant and hasn't told me._ He thought to himself, pacing his room. _I need to talk to Gaius about this. And I also need to talk to Lance, how could he keep the fact that there was a sorceress in Camelot from me?_

"Gaius! We need to talk! Now!"

Leaping from his bed Gaius looked around the room and yelled, "Merlin?" before he saw a very angry prince standing in his doorway. "My lord? Is everything alright, you're not sick are you?" he asked.

"No, I am not unwell. But I have a number of questions to ask you. First, how long have you known about Merlin?"

Gaius' eyes widened and he looked at the prince, trying to see what he was asking, "What about her?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe that she's a bloody sorcerer!"

"I see. Well, I've always known, but she's not a sorcerer."

Arthur glared at the old physician, "Oh sorry, sorceress work?"

"Sire, she is neither. She is a warlock," Gaius explained. Seeing the princes questioning look he elaborated, "She was born with magic, magic choose her. She is also one of the most important people in the magic world. What all did she tell you?"

"She wanted to start at the very beginning and told me who he father was, and that she's always had magic."

"Ah yes. Balinor was a good man. He loved Hinuith very much. What questions do you have?"

"I want to know everything about Merlin and her Magic. I want to know why she has it, I want to know why he chooses to come to Camelot, and I want to know if she had planned, or has ever used it against me."

"Sire, I could answer most of those, but may I ask, where is Merlin and why aren't you asking her? I've only gotten a note from her so I don't know how to reach her you see."

Looking at the ground a bit embarrassed, he answered, "I was angry with her and sent her away. I didn't know how to respond to learning that one of my most trusted frie-servants, had magic…..I didn't know what to do."

"You didn't want to hear her answer your questions? She would have known the answers better than me."

"I know. I want to find her and get the answers but I have no idea where she could be. Do you know where she is Gaius?"

"I'm afraid not sire. She will probably come back to talk to you if you only asked to have time to think."

"I told her not to come back. I'll find her Gaius, I promise," and with that he ran out the door.

MERLIN POV

 _"_ _NO NOW LEAVE AND DON'T COME BACK HERE, SORCERRES!"_

Merlin couldn't believe that Arthur had yelled like that, he had seemed so happy to see her, but then got so mad. Running from the room Merlin didn't know where to go. Only barley remembering to make herself undetectable, she stopped and thought about where she would go.

 _I have no intention of listening to that dragons cryptic answers and judgment_ she thought as she started walking up to on e of the towers. High places helped her think, and right now, she had a lot to think about.

When she reached the top of the tower she took off her enchantment and collapsed against the wall.

"Ok, ok I need to get myself together. I am the great Emrys, I am the most powerful warlock there ever was, I will not get upset because the prince prat scared me and yelled….Right? Right." She said to herself, almost a mini pep talk. Standing from the floor she walked to the window and sat on the ledge, hanging one leg over.

She loved the feeling that if she leaned, she would fall, but trusting herself enough to know that she wont.

Ok, another chapter is done! Sorry this one was a bit late today.


	5. Chapter 5

Ok, sooo sorry about missing yesterday, my laptop didn't save the chapter and I had to re write it all. Also I probably will be posting every other day because my homework had doubled :p but I'm not giving up! Thanks yall

Climbing down from the window before she fell asleep, Merlin decided to just sleep in the tower room. She took off her jacket and bunched it up like a pillow and tried to get comfortable, but to no avail.

 _I'll need a pillow and blanket…. I'll take them from Arthur's room. That prat doesn't deserve them._

She decided. Invisible, she walked through the halls and then into Arthurs room. Seeing as he wasn't there, Merlin took of the spell and climbed on the bed, trying to tug the blanket from under the corners of his great big bed. After a few minutes of struggling, Merlin flopped down onto the soft mattress and closed her eyes _, only for a minute_ , she thought….

ARTHUR POV

After leaving Gaius' room he decided to look in all of Merlins usual hiding places. He checked all the halls, the kitchen, Gwen's house, and finally, he tried the tower. Normally, he was against stalking, but when his servant and he would fight, Merlin always left angry and upset. After one argument, Merlin stormed out and Arthur decided to follow her. After creeping behind her for quite some time, they got to the tower. Arthur watched as she leaned against the wall for a minute before she sat on the window ledge. Arthurs first thoughts were that she was going to jump, before realizing that they was not how Merlin would want to go, so he waited until she climbed down. Then he left his hiding spot and went back to his own rooms.

This time, when Arthur got to the tower room, nothing was there. As he turned to leave, he saw Merlins jacked bunched in a ball. Picking it up, he decided that his servant would have to come and see him to get it back, so he took it with him back to his room.

When he walked in, he didn't notice his seeping servant on his bed. He walked to where one of the kitchen maids had left his dinner and he picked at a piece of apple before he turned around.

And that is when he saw Merlin, sprawled out on his bed with the blanket all askew.

Well, finding her wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, he thought before he crept over to the bed.

Sighing, he pulled Merlins legs to the side of the bed where her head was. Then, quiet as a mouse, Arthur got into the bed on the other side. He untucked the blanket and pulled it out from under both him and Merlin before throwing it over both of them.

MERLIN POV

Rolling over, Merlin struggled to find the motivation to wake up.

I don't have any chores to attend to, _I don't have Arthur to wake up, I don't even have to get breakfast because I'm not hungry_ she thought. When she rolled over again she bumped into something. Something soft and warm and very much alive. Gasping, Merlin pulled back and her eyes flew open.

That's when she realized that she had fallen asleep and was now IN BED with Arthur, who was still asleep. Merlin pulled the blanket off of herself and tried to get out of the bed. When she was about half way out of the bed, Merlin felt movement beside her . Turning, she saw Arthur stir. Wincing when the bed creaked, Merlin tried to get off.

"Wait! Merlin!" Arthur yelled, launching himself foreword to gob her wrist. "Please don't leave again I am so sorry for what I said!"

Merlin turned and saw that Arthur looked rather panicked at the thought of her leaving again.

Merlin tried to pull her wrist away, fight or flight instincts kicking in, and she wanted to run. Run away from the man she thought was he friend. Away from the man who yelled at her. Away from her destiny.

Seeing her pulling away, Arthur let go and jumped from the bed and ran to the door, blocking her exit.

"Please don't go," was all he said, looking at her for a response.

"Arthur, you made it very clear that you didn't want me in here. I was only in here because I was going to steal you pillows and blankets," she said, wincing as the words left her mouth.

Looking confused Arthur asked, "Why were you going to steal my blankets?"

"Because the floor is quite hard and I wanted to be more comfortable?" she answered.

"And how did steal Arthurs blanket turn into sleep in his bed? Not that I minded," he rushed the last part, not wanting her to think of herself as a burden.

"What? Did you enjoy me in your bed?" she teased, a bit of their old relationship surfacing. Visibly relaxing, Arthur stepped away from the door.

"It could have been worse. You do seem to be a restless sleeper. I think you kicked me at least seven times last night," he laughed. Muttering an apology, Merlin blushed. Taking her silence as an opening, Arthur walked toward hr and crushed her in a huge bear hug.

"I can never apologize enough for yelling at you. Don't leave me again,' he murmured into her hair.

"Yes sire.'

ARTHUR POV

"So Merlin, I think that you have quite a story o tell me," he said, pulling back from the hug after a minute.

"Yes I do. Will you listen this time?" she teased. Nodding enthusiastically Arthur sat on the edge of his bed and waited for her to start.

When Merlin finally sat down next to him so restarted her story.

Sashes told him about how her parents met, and how she could move things magically before she could even walk, and how as she got older, she had no one to teach her how to control her magic.

"By the time I was 14 I could do many things, include slow time. Which was how I got my job actually. When that old witch threw that knife at you I slowed tie and pushed you put of the way."

"So you saved my life before I even really knew you."

"Arthur, I have saved your life so many times I've lost count."

 _There is so much I don't know about her_ he thought.

"I have a few questions. I want to know everything about you and your magic. I want to know why he chooses to come to Camelot, and I want to know if you had planned, or have ever used it against me. I know that these seem a bit silly, but I have to know," he said a bit shyly.

After explaining about how she got her magic and its purpose (destine included) she told him that her mother wanted her to learn from Gaius about how to control it better.

"Arthur, I have never once used my magic against you or Camelot. I have never panned on it and, actually, I've gotten many offers to help others fight against you. Don't worry though, I said no to all of them," she laughed at his face, knowing that that only made more questions.

"Actually, I lied to you. I have used my magic against you. Do you remember Aulfric and his daughter Sophie? Well, they weren't human. They were Sidhe who wanted to sacrifice you. Sophie made you think you were in love with her using magic and you two eloped together. I ran after you to stop them from killing you and when I got to you I needed to knock you out so that I could deal with them without revealing my magic. I knocked you out then dealt with them. That was the only time I caused you direct harm with my magic."

Seeing Arthurs face she laughed some more.

"You let mw think that you manage to use wood! I've been wondering where that strength and stealth went all this time! You cheated!" he announced, laughing along with her.

"I did no such thing! I only used the resources that I had available to save you…..again."

Now that they were back to their old selves again, there was only one problem.

Uther.

OK! There we go. I should have another chapter up by Thursday. Thanks guys!


	6. Sorry

Hey guys, sorry the isn't an update, I just wanted to et you know that my laptop stopped working but I am using my brothers right now. I probably wont be posting for this weekend but I am still writing from his laptop. So so so so so very sorry, ill post as soon as I can!


	7. Chapter 6

OK GUYS I GOT MY LAPTOP FIXED :D thank you for being patient. now that i have my laptop back i can continue writing. SOooooo heres the next chapter!

After listening to some more magical battle stories and a million and one more apologies from Arthur, they sat in a comfortable silence.

 _Wow, my servant, no...My friend has had all of this power the whole time, and she used it to help me…_ Arthur thought, looking at Merlin.

"I going to need to speak with my father...he doesn't know about you," Arthur whispered, breaking the silence.

Looking up, eyes wide and frightened, Merlin asked, "Tell him what? That I'm alive? That I actually do have magic? What are you thinking Arthur?"

"Well, you can't just keep living like this! Hiding, stealing food, you need to have a bed and a job. I can't let you live unhappily now that I know everything you've gone through for my sake I won't let you do that anymore. I am going to talk to my father and he is going to see reason. I promise." he said finally. Then, before Merlin could say a word, Arthur walked out the door, waving a hand over his shoulder as a goodbye.

"Father, we need to talk, alone,'' he announced as he walked into the throne room. Waving all of the servants out of the room, Uther looked at his son, waiting for n explanation.

"Father, what proof did you have when you accused my servant of having magic?"

'I dont need proof, I am the kind and my word is law. You best remember that."

"But father, why would you arrest her of something she did not do? She was innocent! She never hurt anyone!"

"Arthur, I arrested her because of this. Because of your feeling for her. If you hadn't mentioned your feelings to your knight, I probably wouldn't have done anything. Servants could have overheard you and then rumor would spread. The prince of Camelot cannot be in love with a servant! It was easier to tell everyone that he had magic and had enchanted you to fall in love with her. Then no one would have questioned you," Uther ranted.

The blood drained from Arthurs face. It was his fault that Merlin had been arrested. All because he had feelings for her and talked about it in a public area.

"Father, no rumors were spread. I don't see the problem with it. I will not produce any children with her, I will not do anything! She didn't have to be arrested!" realizing that he was talking about her as if she was still alive and not 'killed by the guards' he quickly amended, "She didn't have to die because of me."

Uther looked at his son for a moment before asking, "Where is the girl?"

Arthur cocked his head to the side, not trusting his voice.

"Where is that little bitch?! I want to know where she is and how she got out of the dungeon! Tell me now!" Uther yelled.

Needing a way out of this room, Arthur thought of a plan. "She's dead father! You had her killed! I will never forgive you for killing the woman I love!" he yelled, a bit over dramatic, before running out of the room.

Sprinting up the stairs, Arthur made his way to his chambers.

"Merlin! You need to leave, now!"

Looking up from her spell book, Merlin stares at Arthur, mouth slightly open.

"Why would I leave? What did you do Arthur!?" she yelled back, standing up.

Pacing back and forth across his room, he replied, "I didn't do anything! My father thinks I did something! He thinks I am hiding you and that I know how you got out of the dungeon! I didn't tell him anything, he just thinks…"

"Arthur, you are hiding me, you do know how I got out, and you didn't need to confront him about this," Merlin whispered. "I was fie here, waiting and being quiet. I was safe. But you just had to go and talk to your father. What should I do now?"

"Well, obviously, you need to escape. Leave Camelot."

"No. I won't. I'm not leaving."

"Merlin, you can't be like this right now. You need to leave and to get yourself to safety."

"Arthur, you are my destiny, you are the other half of the coin, you are the reason I was born. I will not leave you here alone."

"Merlin, I'm not alone, and you don't need to protect me anymore. I have guards and knights that protect me. I know that you have saved my life more times than I know, but you need to leave."

Now, Merlin was just getting annoyed. "Arthur, I know you just want to help, but this is the last time I am saying that I. Am. Not. Leaving. And FYI you can't tell me what to do, what have I ever followed orders."

Sighing, Arthur sat down in his desk. "Ok then, you'll have to stay with your dragon, stay out of site, safe from my father."

"Fine, I'll go stay with Kilgharrah."

Merlin tried to walk out of the room, but was stopped when Arthur grabbed her wrist.

"Merlin, I am so sorry….I shouldn't have gone to my father about this…. I've put you in danger and for that I am so sorry," he whispered. Merlins features softened at that.

"Arthur, he was looking for me anyway, it's not really your fault. I shouldn't have yelled at you," She whispered back, hand reaching up and resting on his cheek. Leaning down, Arthur gently kissed her.

The kiss only lasted a second, but it was enough. Enough to show how much Merlin meant to him. Pulling back, Arthur looked at her, seeing her reaction. The smile that Merlin wore could have cured cancer, she looked positively radiant. She reached her hands up and around his shoulders, pulling him into a hug.

When she pulled back, she smiled at him before reaching for the door Opening it, she turned back to say goodbye to Arthur, and to tell him that she would be back the next day, but before she got a word out Arthur began to talk.

"Merlin, I just wanted to let you know that you are by far the worst servant I've ever had, but I also hope you know that I love you. I love you Merlin."

Tears swelled in her eyes, and she covered her face with her hands to hide her red cheeks.

"I love you too you prat," she exclaimed before smiling at him one last time before walking out the door and silently closing it behind her.

Casting her spell, Merlin walked silently back to where the great dragon awaited her, smiling the whole time.


	8. Chapter 7

"Ah, young warlock. You've returned. I was worried something had happened to you," Kilgharrah announced when she walked into the cave.

"Hello Kilgharrah, sorry for worrying you. I'm fine, but Uther is looking for me again. I had almost let myself relax, thinking that he forgot about me."

"Merlin, the king is not going to stop now that he thinks that Arthur is hiding you," he said. Merlin squinted at him.

"I hate yet love that I don't have to tell you everything. How do you know everything that happens?"

The great dragon chuckled, "A great magician never reveals his secrets."

Merlin rolled her eyes and sat down on her makeshift bed. She pulled out an apple and lay back enjoying her alone time, well, minus the giant dragon, she was alone.

In between her apple snack and now, she must have fallen asleep because now she woke with a start, hearing a loud echo.

*BANG* this time she sat straight p when she heard it. "Kilgharrah, what is that?" she asked worriedly. Looking around, the dragon was nowhere in sight.

"Great, that useless lizard always disappears," she whispered to herself. She quickly put all of her stuff in a bag and hid it all in a hole. No evidence remained that she was ever there.

Casting another invisibility spell, Merlin climbed back to the entryway to the cave. She ran as quickly and quietly as possible, up to the castle dungeon.

"Emrys! Emrys will help me I swear! She will come and kill you all to protect me, that is what I believe!" A small voice yelled.

"Quiet down there hon! The king could still kill you if he wanted," the guard grumbled, not pleased to be guarding this loud prisoner.

"The king won't kill me, he wants to get Emrys here, he wants to use me as bait because I'm a small helpless child, right?" the voice said again. Merlin crept around the corner and saw who was talking. It was a girl, about 9 or 10 years old. Sitting cross legged in the middle of a cell.

"Kid I don't care. I don't know who you keep talking about, but no one gets past me ok? No one can come and save you! I'm really sorry the king is using you but I can't do anything. My job I to make sure you don't get out," The guard said, looking everywhere except for the girl.

"These must be pretty bad cells then, if people keep getting out, I mean, others have gotten out. And don't even try to say otherwise, if no one ever got out you wouldn't be here."

The guard sighed and shifted his weight, obviously wanting to be anywhere but here. Merlin grew tired of waiting and put a sleeping spell on the guard, catching him before he fell and hurt himself. Then she took off the invisibility spell and looked at the kid. She looked up at Merlin with awe in her eyes.

"Emrys! You're here to save me?"

Merlin knelt down in front of the cell. "How do you know who I am?"

"Well, I think the king figured out who you are. He came to my camp and talked to some of the elders. He brought them into a tent and then when he came out he grabbed me and put me on his horse. When we rode away I heard fighting behind me. Did he kill them?" she asked, not looking at al fazed by this.

Merlin frowned, "I don't know. You're a druid?"

The girl nodded, "Yup! I am and I have magic and the king said that he wanted to get 'the girl' to show herself so that he could get her. Are you the girl that he wants?"

Merlin nodded and took the keys off the unconscious guard and unlocked the cell. The girl immediately ran out and hugged Merlin.

"I'm Amina," she said, looking up at Merlin.

"Nice to meet you Amina, I'm Merlin. We need to get out of here." Merlin dragged the guard and put him in the cell, keeping the keys with her. Then she took Aminas hand and pulled her away.

"Amina, I'm going to put an invisibility spell on us, but you have to not touch anything because people can still feel you. Try not to run into anyone," Merlin whispered. Amina nodded again, not wanting to disappoint her new friend.

Merlin ran back to the great dragons cave, pulling Amina behind her. When the finally got to the cave, Merlin froze. There, standing at the edge of the little cliff, was Uther.

Amina saw him and grabbed tightly at Merlins arm.

"Lizard, tell me where the girl is! I know who she is, there's no point in hiding her!" he yelled, but Kilgharrah was nowhere to be seen. Assuming that he was up higher in the cavern, Merlin decided not to worry about him. She picked up Amina and held her in front of herself.  
With Amina now secure, Merlin tiptoed backwards, never taking her eyes off the murderous king.

Then, as if sensing her presence, Uther turned. Freezing, Merlin made sure her spell was strong, before deciding to move aging. Uther didn't ever look at where she was standing, he just looked behind him.

"When I find the girl, I'm going to kill her Kilgharrah. And I know that I WILL GET HER! DO YOU HEAR ME DRAGON! I WILL GET YOUR GIRL AND SHE WILL DIE!" he yelled into the darkness before storming past Merlin and Amina. When the younger girl saw him coming toward them she buried her head in Merlins shoulder.

Uther walked away and Merlin let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She set Amina on the ground and ran into the cave.

"Kilgharrah?" she whispered. Then the girls heard the beat of his wings and he drifted down from high above them.

"Merlin! Good dogs girl are you ok? Where are you?" Merlin looked behind her aging to make sure Uther was really gone before she took off the spell.

"Ah, there you are. Are you alright? Who's this?" he asked when he saw the child attached to Merlins side.

"I'm fine, and this is Amina. Uther went to a druid camp and took her," was all Merlin said, hoping Kilgharrah would get that she thought that Aminas family was dead.

"Yes I see. Well child, it is a pleasure to meet you."

For a kid that just met a dragon, Amina was taking it pretty well. She didn't look scared at least. Actually, she looked calm, maybe a bit too calm. Kilgharrah looked at her a moment more before he made an odd sound, somewhere between a gasp and a groan.

"Merlin, this girl is a Seer….." he whispered. Merlin, shocked turned to the child. Her features were solemn and she looked like a sleep walker. Amina stood there like that a few more minutes before she collapsed into Merlins arms, crying.

"Amina! Are you ok? What did you see?"

Trying to talk around he sobs, she said, "I saw….a knight….killing my momma and papa…..he…. he didn't even think about it…they didn't fight back, they just stood there and my father….he was trying to comfort my mother…he was saying…you…your name…He said that Emrys would save me and that he Saw you saving me…" she broke off and sobbed against Merlins shirt. Merlin didn't know what to do, so she sat down and pulled the sobbing child into her lap. Amina clung to Merlin and after a while, fell asleep.

"So, what now?" she asked Kilgharrah.


	9. Chapter 8

HEy! its been awhile since i updated, i am so so so so sorry, but im here now! Heres the next chapte, leave reviews. Merlin sat back against the wall of the cave and let the exhausted girl nap against her chest. "I need to go see Arthur," Merlin whispered. Kilgharrah frowned at her. "That would be very unwise, the King is looking everywhere for you and the girl." Sighing, Merlin accepted that he was right. So she laid her head back and slept. When she woke up, Amina was sitting a few feet infront of her, staring at the ceiling. "Hey Amina, how are you feeling?" Merlin asked. "I'm fine. The past is the past. My family and friends are dead. The so called noble knights of camelot killed them. This is why Uther has so many sorcerers out to get him. If he hadn't killed my people, i wouldn't want to kill him right now." Merlin sat up straight. "Amina, no. You are not going to be like that. You are not going to learn magic to turn against the king. I understand what you are feeling right now, I know that you are hurting, but killing Uther is not going to help you. Trust me, i've thought about it myself. REmember, one day, Arthur is going to bring back magic, and be an amazing king. But if Uther dies now, that might change." Amina bowed her head and crawled into Merlin's lap again. "I just wanna go home."

After the two girls ate their food and cleaned up a bit, Merlin cast the spell over them so that they could walk through the castle. Amina bumped into a wall and made a loud thunk, then she laughed when a guy tripped and fell on his face, then she squealed because a mouse ran over her foot. After five minutes of walking, Merlin just carried the young girl. They finally arrived at the prince's chambers, but there were guards posted outside the door. Merlins eyes glowed gold and she made it sound like there was yelling from down the hall. THe guards all looked up and jogged over to the fake sounds. THe two girls slipped inside the room and quietly shut the door. Merlin set the girl down on the polished floor and the quickly pulled the younger girl behind her. Standing in the room, facing away from them, was Uther Pendragon. "Arthur, this is foolish. The girl is a servant, you have no reason to have any sort of attachment to her. She is small and petty and weak. That girl also happens to have magic, meaning, she is evil!" Amina stiffened behind Merlin and Merlin held her close. Uther continued. "That little prisoner escaped. Most likely aided by your little servant. When i find them i will show no mercy. I will burn them both, the little girl first, then Merlin. You will be locked up in here, and you will never disobey me again." Uther finished and turned on his heel, walking past the frightened girl and out of the room. Merlin heard Uther yelling at the guards for wandering off and then silence. She sighed and hid Amina behind the edge of Arthur's cabinets before taking off the spell. "Arthur," was all she said, Arthur's head snapped up. He lept to his feet, "Merlin! Good gods, i thought you were gone! Why haven't you left yet?" he asked, pulling her into a bone crushing hugs. "I couldn't, there was a setback. …." Arthur looked her in the eye. "What sort of set back?" "Erm …. Well….ok so you father kidnapped a druid girl and had her in the dungeon and i saved her and she needed rest and i've been watching her. She's mine now. I'm not letting Uther have her." Arthur's eyes were comically wide. "You broke a little druid girl out of the dungeons and hid here. I'm presuming you hid here with your dragon. Is she there now?" Merlin looked at the ground before taking a few steps back. She then pulled Amina out from behind the cupboard. "No, she's here…" Amina clung to Merlin's arm and looked at the prince in fear. The last time she saw knight armour, was in her village. Pulling her away from her family. Arthur looked at the girl before crouching down. "Hello, I'm Arthur. I'm not going to hurt you ok? I'm going to help you and Merlin get to safety." he extended an arm, and Amina shook his hand, tense, as if about to run. Arthur smiled and told Amina to eat the remainder of his breakfast, he had barely touched it, and then he turned to Merlin. "And why exactly did you bring her here? It's not safe. You two should be long gone by now." he whispered. "Ya ya I know. I need you to lead the knights south, away from where we are going. Kilgharrah knows where a druid camp is, and we need to get out of here and into the woods. I can hide us there." she whispered back. She looked over at Amina and frowned. "She's a seer. She saw knights kill her parents. You should have seen her before that, she was a lot happier. She needs to get out of here." Arthur looked at the little druid, understanding how this situation could wear down a child. He let the younger of the two girls take a nap in his bed, while he and Merlin sat at the foot of the bed. Arthur sat behind Merlin, who sat between his legs. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his face against the back of her head and neck. "Im sorry i can't protect you more. I'm a sorry excuse of a suitor for you." She laughed, "Ya, i could totally do better than the prince of Camelot. Im sure the stable boy would jump out of his skin at the chance to court the magnificent Merlin." Arthur pulled back and turned her around, so that she was facing him. "Merlin, every man would jump out of his skin at the chance to be with you. Do you see the way visiting lords look at you when they see you at banquets. I've had to chase off a few myself. Even my father has commented on your appearance." Merlin looked at him quizzically. "Ya? What did he say about me?" Arthur blushed and looked down, hiding his face. "He asked me if you serviced me at night…" he muttered. Merlin burst out laughing before quickly shutting her mouth. SHe looked at his with a smile on her face. "Im sure that made interesting dinner conversation." Merlin cast a silence spell on the room, so the guards wouldn't hear their voices. After that, Arthur and Merlin ended up talking about everything while Amina slept. About Will and her mother and Ealdor. Arthur talked about when he knew the other knights when they were kids and about how Morgana once snuck worms and crickets into his pillow when they were eleven. "Stop laughing! it was terrible! i woke up when i felt a worm try to get into my nose!"Arthur exclaimed ,a bit too loud, waking up Amina. SHe sat up, smiling from ear to ear. "Amina, whats got you so smiley?" Merlin asked. "I saw your future. Yours and mine and Arthurs. It was amazing! there were flowers of every shade of blue, and a huge white dress and i was a princess and it was amazing!" she yelled. Arthur looked very confused at the explanation, but Merlin blushed furiously. Amina was talking about a wedding. And if she was a princess, that meant that Arthur was her adoptive father, and from that, Merlin must have been her adoptive mother. "Well! Lets not think too much about the future, lets plan how we get out of here," MErlin quickly changes the subject. THe trio quickly made plans. Arthur would pretend that he heard gossip about Merlin and Amina escaping the castle grounds, and he and the Knights would track some footsteps in the woods. Merlin needed to magic those into reality once the plan started. The, Merlin and Amina would use the invisibility spell and get into the woods, going north to the druid camp. After that, Arthur would eventually get to the border of the neighboring kingdom, where the knights could not go, and return to Camelot. Empty handed. 


	10. Chapter 9

**Oh my god! This story has 59 followers! I never thought it would have so much. I actually thought that no one would read it, so thank you all for reading it and liking it!**

 **Ok, here's the next chapter. Sorry it took so long!**

When night fell, Arthur ran to the throne room.

"Father, I heard that Merlin and the escaped druid girl are leaving tonight and heading south."

Uther looked up, pleased that Arthur no longer cared for the serving girl. "I see. And where did you hear this from?"

"The informant did not want their name to be shared. Merlin shared with the informant her plan and the informant told me, being a loyal citizen of Camelot." Arthur said. Uther grinned.

"Very well then, if you believe them, then go and gather the knights. Fetch this girl and the druid and being them back here. Now."

Arthur nodded his head and turned around; heading to the tavern to gather his probably wasted knights.

Arthur opened the thick wooden door and saw his knights in the corner of the room, talking quietly.

As Arthur approached, he heard what they were saying.

"I bet the princess doesn't even care what happens to her. Merlin needs to live, she can't die. I won't let her die." Gwaine was saying. Arthur smirked and walked closer, putting a hand on Gwaine's shoulder.

"Well, this princess was about to ask you to help me save Merlin. You all game?"

The knights and their prince quickly went over the plan, follow the fake prints south, and Merlin and Amina would go north. The knights grabbed their armor and swords and headed out.

"Amina, we need to leave now. Arthur is leading the knights south." Merlin whispered. She said the spell and the two girls were no longer visible to anyone. "Amina we need to be quick because I can't keep this spell up for too long." she whispered into thin air. Merlin grabbed onto Aminas shoulder so that she could keep track of where the girl was.

Merlin led Amina through the castle, avoiding all of the servants and noble passing by. When they reached the gate Merlin made sure that the spell was still strong, and the girls crept past the guards posted at the entrance and then sprinted into the woods. When Merlin felt safe enough, they stopped and she took off the spell.

She smiled down at Amina and laughed.

"Amina, you, a little kid, outsmarted Uther Pendragon. Kudos to you!" she said before laughing harder than she had in a while. They walked for a while longer before resting and making camp.

A few hours into the night and Merlin heard sound coming from the west. She sat up, wide awake, and listened. Prepared to fight. After a few more moments of dead silent, she heard it again, closer.

Merlin smiled and whistled quietly. Bounding from the forest was Aithusa.

The small dragon was only the size of a dog, not yet big, but when she jumped and landed on top of Merlin, the girl yelled out and fell backwards.

Hearing the yell, Amina sat straight up and looked around for the source of noise. What she saw Merlin on the ground with the beast on top of her, Amina jumped to her feet and ran to her fallen friend.

"MERILN! Are you ok? What's going on?" Amina yelled. Merlin pushed the dragon baby off of herself and pulled herself to her feet to comfort the younger girl. She pulled Amina into a hug and then explained the situation.

"Wait, you hatched a baby dragon?" Amina asked, cutting off Merlins story.

"Well, yes. I couldn't let them kill it and I couldn't let her die in the ruins."

Amina started laughing and then she looked at the baby.

"Hello Aithusa, I'm Amina,"she said before placing her hand on Aithusa's head. The dragon nuzzled back and then lad down next to their fire, ready to sleep. Amina laid next to her and closed her eyes, feeling safer knowing that she had both Merlin and a dragon to keep her safe.] **

The next morning, Merlin woke with the sun and packed up their camp before Amina woke up. The two ate breakfast of bread and some meat and then continued on their path to the druids.

ARTHUR POV

After the plan started, Arthur led the knights through the woods farther and farther away from the castle, and away from Merlin.

After a few hours of wondering, the knights all at down and stared at each other.

"Well, I guess we'll have to make out own tents and such," Leon finally said. They all looked around in confusion, almost forgetting that Merlin wasn't with them. Gwaine stood first and began to pitch his tent, and the others soon followed. Elyan began on making a fire and Percy went off into the woods to find them some dinner.

"So, Arthur, I hear you fancy a certain servant,"Gwaine said with a smirk. Arthur glared at his knight, but nodded anyway. Gwaine smiled from ear to ear at this.

"Me and Merlin have a history of our own, but I think she is a better match with you," he said. Arthurs head snapped up, completely ignoring the complement.

"What do you mean, you and Merlin have history?"

"Well, I mean, me and her are really good friends. And for a little bit we were together. But that didn't last long. She was still head over heels in love with you and I still went to the tavern and got wasted. Whenever I went to the tavern, I would grab some bar rat and me and her would go to a room and…you know. Merlin decided that it wouldn't work and I had no objections. Were better as friends," Gwaine explained. Arthur looked about ready to grab a sword and stab him, but instead he sighed and thanked his knight for being honest. Gwaine smiled back and said, "I think of her more as a little sister anyway." The two men laughed and then Percy was back with the food and they all ate in a comfortable silence.

The next morning, they all woke up a bit late and after breakfast, they continued away from their magical friend.

The whole journey, all Arthur could think was, 'I hope she's ok. Did they pack enough food? What if bandits attacked them? What if my father figured out that I lied? Does Merlin know that I desperately wish that I was with her? Will she be okay with Amina, alone in the woods?'

But those thoughts quickly left when he remembered, Merlin is the most powerful sorceress there ever was. She can handle a short trip through the woods.


	11. Chapter 10

THIS STORY HAS MORE THAT 60 FOLLOWERS THANK YOU ALL SO SO SO FREAKING MUCH I looked at the word count for this chapter and it was about 1100, but it feels really short. Because its Thanksgiving break, i have more time to write and I might post more this week. Thank you for reading!*

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CHAPTER 10

"Merlin, how much farther?" Amina asked. Merlin groaned, now knowing why people said kids were a lot of effort.

"Amina, you asked that five minutes ago! We still have a few more hours of walking," she replied. Amina fell silent for another minute.

"So, how many hours?"

Merlin hung her head foreword and shook her head, "I don't know, why don't you count how many seconds in your head. And then when we get there ill do the math and tell you how many hours."

Amina perked up, happy to have something to do, and then looked like she was concentrating.

The two girls continued walking for a while, and then some more, and then some more.

"Merlin! I got to 7500! How many hours is that?" Amina asked.

"No clue. I would need to write it down on paper. Just keep counting and when we get there Ill figure it out. OK?"

Amina nodded and then stopped talking. Then, as the girls walked over a hill, they saw a lake, and on the shore of the lake, was the druid camp. Amina yelled out in joy and took off running, Aithusa hot on her heels. After a seconds thought, Merlin realized that a girl and a dragon running into the camp might be alarming to the druids, so she took off after them, racing the younger girl and the dragon to the camp.

When Merlin stepped into the camp with Amina and Aithusa behind her, she first noticed that she only saw kids. The oldest looked to be about 17, and the rest were either teenagers or smaller kids. Amina clung onto my arm, once again unsure about new people.

"Hello, my name is Merlin, we need somewhere to stay. I heard that you could help us," Merlin said. The oldest girl, the 17 year old, stepped forward.

"Welcome Emrys. I am Nila. I glad you finally got here," she said. Merlin looked at the girl confused.

"Were you expecting us?"

"One of our seers saw you coming. But of course any one of us could have felt your power."

Merlin smiled and tugged Amina out from behind her. "This girl is Amina. The King was going to have her killed, but we got out together. And this dragon here is Aithusa. She won't hurt any of you, I promise."

The girl, Nila, smiled and invited them into a tent, "I think you have quite the story to tell."

After telling Nila where they came from and why, explaining everything back to when Uther tried to have her locked up, she decided that she had some of her own questions.

"Nila, where are all of the adults? Are you the oldest here?"

Nila frowned. "I figured you would ask eventually. Well….they're all dead. The younger ones don't know everything. When one of our littlest seers saw the king's men coming this way, the elders told me to take them and hide them. I had to use a few spells throw them off our trail, but I got all of the kids to safety. After a few days of hiding, I went back alone, to see what the situation was. I left my brother in charge of the rest of the kids. When I got back here….the whole camp was destroyed. Some of the tents were still burning. The food was all gone, along with any money we had. All the supplies...and our parents were all gone as well. I don't know where they went. They're probably dead by now."

Merlin looked at her, shock written all over her face. "I am so sorry you had to deal with that alone. When did this happen?" Merlin asked.

"A few days ago. It hasn't been very long. Maybe a week…."

Aminas grip on Merlins arm tightened, and Merlin pulled her closer to herself. Merlin sat up a bit straighter, debating on what to do next.

"Ill help you all. I am going to stay here, and I can help teach the others how to use magic, to hunt, to fight! You won't be defenseless anymore! We will stay here and you will have help. I won't leave you here to handle this yourself." Merlin said, reaching over and pulling Nila close to her. The young girl hugged Merlin back, as of Merlin was currently her lifeline.  
"You've been so string, but you are still only a girl. You need help sometimes. I understand." Merlin whispered. After a very long hug and quite a bit of crying from Nils, the three girls walked out of the tent.

They were greeted with the sight of a small child, a boy about 4 or 5, riding on the back of a very excited baby dragon. The girls laughed and Nila walked over to retrieve the boy. When Nila picked him up he laughed and wrapped his hands around her neck.

"NILA GUESS WHAT!" he yelled.

"What?" she asked him.

"The white lizard has magic! She's like you!" he gigged before squirming to be put back on the ground. Nila set him down and then gave Merlin and Amina a tour through the camp. They passed the cooks tent, they passed where all of them slept, and they peeked into where the bots were sparring. Not very well, Merlin thought.

After the tour ended, Merlin and Amina went into their own tent. Merlin tried to fight against having her own tent when they already had so little space, but Nila insisted that she was not going to let Emrys sleep on the floor. Merlin showed Amina what cot was hers, and then they both fell onto their own cots and fell asleep.

ARTHUR POV

"Wake up lads, we need to start heading back to Camelot now!" Arthur yelled. The rest of the knight groaned and buried deeper into their thin blankets.

"Why do we need to go back? Can't we just stay out here? I mean, we get to hunt, and to camp, and to relax. Plus, I don't have your training to deal with of we're on a mission." Gwaine said, muffled by him pillow.

"Well, Sir Gwaine," Arthur said, his voice dripping with sarcasm at the title, " We need to get back to my father and tell him that Merlin and the druid girl are long gone into another kingdom, where we could not go without causing a fight. After telling him that, Merlin will be safe, and my father will soon forget about her all together."

Remembering that he was currently helping out a friend, Gwaine rolled upper and stood up. He then, with the help of the other knights, packed up their camp. They got onto their horses and made their journey home.

Arthur, once again, burst into the throne room.

"Father, I've returned."

"Ah Arthur, I assume you brought back that servant turned sorceress and the druid girl?"

"No, we followed the trail and they went into the next kingdom over. Merlin was my servant long enough to know that in a hunt, I cannot go into another kingdom without causing a fight. She and the druid went into a magic safe kingdom. There was nothing I could do about it," Arthur said, his head hung in mock shame.

Uther shifted in his seat, eyes locked on his son. _That little bitch of a servant_ , he thought. _She thought that she could escape me just like that? Well, I will not be embarrassed and shown up by a little girl. I will just have to go and find her myself._


	12. Chapter 11

**OK, so this is a bit of a filler chapter, but the next chapter will be up soon! Maybe even later tonight, it sort of depends. Thank you all for reading!**

 **Chapter 11**

"Arthur! I have news," Uther said as he strolled into his sons rooms.

"Father? What is it?" Arthur asked, hoping it wasn't that he had found Merlin.

"I have decided to leave Camelot for a few days. You need to learn how to be king and the best way to do that is to learn on the job."

Arthur stopped moving and stared at his father, jaw hanging open.

"Father, you cannot be serious! You can't leave! What will the people think if their king leaves for no reason?"

Uther laughed. "They will understand as long as they are aware that it is a test for you. Besides, I don't really care what they think."

Arthur just stared at his father some more, not comprehending what his father was saying. A king should care about his people and what they think of him. If the people don't stand behind their king, then the kingdom is nothing. That's when people turn traitor.

"Arthur, when I go, you cannot leave. You must stay here and be their leader for a few days."

Arthur nodded his head, not able to speak. Uther nodded in return and left the room.

 _I know that my father is a bit insane with his old age, but this is weird even for him. The people know that I will do anything for them. And...A few days isn't that long. What would I do that would make an impact on my image in a few days, and I'm not king so I wouldn't be able to do anything important…_ Arthur thought to himself. He paced around him room for another couple of minutes before he decided to go and ask his father a few questions.

When he approached his father's chambers he heard his father talking.

"I will leave, and Arthur will stay here. He is not to leave, do you understand me?" He asked.

 _"_ Yes Sire I understand." that was his father's royal advisors voice, "But Sire, if I may, why is it that you are leaving on such short notice?"

"I need to go find that servant girl. She knows too much about Arthur, about the castle, and about the politics here. What if she was to go and give our secrets to others, hmm? She knows just about as much as Arthur does about this castle, she could be useful to our enemies."

"Sire, what is this really about? Is this because she outsmarted you? Because I would advise not going through with this plan if that is the real reason."

 __Arthur heard silence.

*SMACK*

"I know you are the royal advisor, but you are never to speak to me in such a manner again, are we clear?" His father asked again, his voice dripping with threat.

"Yes yes sire I understand you perfectly. Arthur will not leave and you are doing this because she knows too much. I understand…"

At this time, Arthur decided to knock on his father's door.

"Father, may I come in?" he asked.

The door swung open to reveal Uther, and behind him, the royal advisor leaning against the table.

"Arthur! How can I help you?"

"I was just wondering when you leave for your trip." Arthur said, thinking up a reason to be there.

"Ah, well, I am leaving at first light tomorrow morning. You don't have any problems with it, do you?"

Arthur shook his head, "No of course not, you are the king, and you would know best."

Uther nodded and walked past Arthur and down the hallway. Arthur spun and ran into his father room.

"Sir, are you ok?" he asked the advisor.

"Yes, thank you. Never better," he smiled, but he didn't look fine in the least. The old man's forehead was beaded with sweat and he had a nasty red mark on his cheek.

"Here, let's take you to Gaius and have him look at your cheek," Arthur said. The advisor nodded and the two of them made their way to the physician's chambers.

On the way there, Arthur learned a great deal about the man. His name was Nicolas, he has been serving Uther for 40 years, his wife is sick, and his sons are guards in the castle. Arthur listened, interested with the man's life. When they got to Gaius, Arthur explained that the man got struck, but didn't say by whom, and Nicolas didn't seem to want to say either. Gaius told him that he would most likely have a bruise and gave him an ointment to stop the swelling. Nicolas left and Arthur sat down across from Gaius.

"We need to talk. My father is going after Merlin, and I have been ordered to stay in the castle."

Gaius' eyes widened, fearful for his young charge.

At this time, many miles away, Merlin was in the middle of a magic lesson.

"First, let's start with some easy spells," she said, looking at the group in front of her. The range was of the kids ages 9 to the oldest, 18. It was a bit of trouble, helping all of them, but not impossible. Merlin put her hands in front of her face, cupped around her mouth, "Put your hands like this, and then repeat after me." The kids all put their hands up and then they all said, " _Ignis._ "

Small flames leapt of from most of their hands, and they all jumped back from themselves, a little counterproductive.

"You can't be scared of yourself, trust yourself not to let the flame get to big," Merlin said before helping the remainder of the kids gets their flames going. After they all had small fires flickering in the palms of their hands, Merlin gave them more instruction.

"Now, try to get the fire to take a shape, a horse, a butterfly, a person, it doesn't really matter. Get the flame to do what you want it to."

The kids all looked at their fire and focused. A few forms started to take shape, one girl had a little butterfly flittering around her, a boy had a dog jumping around, and they all got the hang of that trick pretty fast. Amina, who stood next to Merlin, had the shape of Kilgharrah hovering above her hands.

The lessons continued, and they all got the fires to shoot out, aiming at the nearby trees and targets that Merlin made. They made winds blow over mannequins, and they also made objects fly around.

"You see, I could do this trick form before I could talk, it came naturally to me. If you can't get it to move on your own, try the spell _'mutationem positionis'_." Merlin said. The next few minutes were a bit messy. One boy was trying to get a pot to fly to his left, but instead it went straight and hit a girl in the head. Not so lucky for him, it was the girl that everyone knew he had a huge crush on.

"Benny! Why'd you hit me? That's not how you get a girl to notice you! What are you, twelve?!" she yelled.

"OH I AM SO SORRY KIMMY!" he yelled running to her side. The two teens then went to the nurse's tent to get some salve for her head. Another boy, much younger, hit Merlin in the side with a fork, and then there was silverware everywhere. Merlin, thinking this would happen, gave them mostly spoons.

After they all got the hang of that one, she moved on. By the end of the day, most of the kids could make the elements move about, could make things fly around, mostly helpful for disarming any enmities, and they could make themselves invisible. The invisibility was especially tricky. She had to have them do it in groups of three because some of them had trouble changing back to being visible. Losing kids was not on her to do list.

Merlin left the camp and went hunting for some dinner, catching two deer with a bow and arrow. She used a bit of magic to get them back to the game, but she was very proud of herself for not having to use magic. Teaching all of the camp how to use more magic, made her realize how much she relied on it. Without magic, Merlin was limited on how helpful she could be.

After a delicious deer dinner, all of the camp went to sleep. Merlin and Amina went into their tent and saw Aithusa lying on the foot of Aminas cot like a dog. Amina giggled before getting into bed herself.

Merlin smiled, happy with the progress of the magical abilities of the kids, not aware of the events going on in Camelot.

Thanks for reading! leave reviews if you want anything different in the story!


	13. Apology

Hey guys, this isn't a chapter, but i wanted to apologize ahead of time because t might be a while before i post because I have finals soon and I need to do a ton of work. I wanted to let you all know so you don't think I gave up on the story or anything.

So so so sorry! Ill post as soon as i can! Thanks! 3


	14. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER 12**

 **Ok, here is the next chapter. I know that some of these chapters have been filler chapters, so sorry! I'll get back to the main focus in the next few chapters! Thanks for reading!**

Uther woke before the sun and had a servant ready his horse. He rode out before his son even had a chance to get out of bed.

Amina sat up straight in her cot.

"MERLIN!" she yelled, burying her head in to her pillow. Merlin jumped out of bed and ran to the distressed girl.

"Amina? Whets wrong? Are you ok?" she asked hurriedly.

"I had another vision, of Uther...has trying to find you….and to find me...has really mad that we got away….but has….has following the fake tracks you made…" Amina whispered.

Merlin sat for a moment, deciding on what to do with that information.

"It's ok, he won't hurt you. It'll take him about a day of following those tracks before he hits the border. Either he'll goes into the next kingdom, or he'll turn around. I don't think he'll find us anytime soon. It's a good think I made those tracks, and then the knights made them more visible… I don't think he'll figure out that they are fake any time soon." Merlin tried to comfort the girl.

Amina nodded and lay back down, before closing her eyes and dozing off again. Merlin stood and walked to Nile's tent. She walked it and saw Nila lying on the floor with a few of the younger kids and a boy, about 15, in the corner. Merlin crept over the sleeping toddlers and nudged Nila awake. Merlin gestured for Nila to follow her and the two girls walked out of the tent.

"Merlin, are you ok?" Nila asked.

"Ya I'm fine, but Amina had a vision of Uther. Hes out looking for me and her. He is currently following my fake tracks in the opposite direction. I don't think he'll figure out they're fake, but if he does, I need to leave."

Nile's eyes widened, "No! You can't leave! The kids love having you here! And I don't think I can be alone to be in charge….."

Merlin thought for a few minutes in silence. "What if I took you to another camp?"

Nila looked at Merlin, disbelief written on her features. "You would do that for us? That would be really risky"

"Of course I would! Do you know where any other druids are?" Merlin asked.

"Well, my father had a map of the general areas that other camas are. I saved it when I and the kids hid." Nila ducked into the tent, and then came out with a scroll in her hands.

"I know that druids move around a lot, but some of them tend to follow a pattern of migration." She unrolled the scroll on the floor and looked it over.

"It looks like the nearest camp is about half a day away if they still follow this pattern" she said, looking up at Merlin.

Merlin smiled and said a quick spell, " _summon avis_ ," and a pigeon flew by minute's later, landing on a rock near them. Merlin quickly wrote a note to the druid camp and tied it to the bird.

" _Nullam nuntius_ ," She whispered, and then the bird flew from her hands and off to give the message of their soon arrival to the Druid camp.

Nila ran around the camp trying to get all of their stuff packed up and ready to go. Merlin helped Amina pack up what little she collected on their trip and stay with the camp, and then she packed up her own few belongings. The two girls walked out of their tent, packed that up, and then helped the rest of the kids get their own stuff together. Than the group left their camp site, nothing left that would hint that they were ever there.

Arthur ran through the halls, bursting through the big wooden doors and out to the court yard. Arthur yelled out loud and grabbed at his hair. Then he ran back into the castle and into his room. He then grabbed a bag and began stuffing a few shirt and trousers into it before he headed to the kitchen.

"Cook! I need supplies for a few days trip," he said when he spotted the cook into the middle of the room.

"I'm sorry sir, but I have been ordered not to give you any food for any sort of trip," she said back in a sad voice. Merlin and the cook were friends, and she hated to see the king go after her friend, but she had her kids and herself to worry about. She couldn't risk it. When she explained that to the prince, he nodded before leaving the room. Arthur then tried the stables. He walked into the stables and saw...all of the horses gone. Arthur glared at the empty barn before he marched back into the castle once again.

"Nicolas, I would like to know where my horses have gone," Arthur said when he saw the king's advisor. Nicolas jumped and spun around. His cheek was still bruised from when Uther struck him, Arthur noted.

"Ah, yes the horses. I had the stable hands take them for a bit of a walk. I thought that they would need to get out more because you can't be leaving for a few days."

"Well, I need my horse, so would you mind telling me where they are?" Arthur asked, getting annoyed with the entire castle being afraid of his father.

"Well, um, my lord I cannot tell you that because you are not allowed to leave and I fear they if you knew where the horses were you would leave and I don't need that happening," the advisor rushed out.

Arthur looked hard at the advisor for a moment more before he took a deep breath.

"Nicolas, the woman I love is in danger as we speak. I don't know how long it will take my father to find her, and I couldn't live with myself if I sat here and did nothing while she is out in the woods protecting her and a child from my own father. I need to leave and keep her safe. She did not enchant me; I have been in love with her for a very long time."

Nicolas' eyes softened, "Arthur, everyone with eyes knows that you are in love with her, I know for a fact that some of the guards have bets of when you and her get together officially. But, as you are trying to protect the woman you love, I am doing the same. As you know, my wife is sick. I need the money that being your fathers advisor brings in. My wife needs this money. I can't risk letting her condition worsen or I fear she might die."

Arthur thought of what he could say to get Nicolas to let him leave.

 _I could always run on foot, us threes the problem of that being too slow._

 _I could find the horses on my own, but that is very time consuming._

 _I could offer him money, but that money is also my fathers and I might not be bake to see that promise through if my father prevents it._

 _If I could make his wife better that would be helpful….oh…_

"Nicolas, if I save Merlin, she can heal your wife! Merlin can make her healthy again, and make sure this won't happen to her again!" Arthur yelled out. Nicolas' eyes widened.

"You think she would? I've heard that she is an exceptionally helpful and kind person, but do you really think that she would?"

"I am positive that she will help your wife, especially if you have helped her. And helping me right this very second, would be also helping her," Arthur said. When he saw the uncertainty on Nicolas' face, Arthur added more.

"My father struck you and yelled at you, why do you support his decisions?"

Nicolas looked at Arthur, and sighed. "I am terrified of your father, to be honest. I advise him on the right thing to do when it comes to the kingdom, but my advice is always tainted with what I know he wants to hear. I do not support him. You are a man I would follow blindly, but I do not think you father is a kind and just ruler. Your horse is in the field past the woods west of the training fields. I wish you luck on saving your Merlin, Arthur."

Arthur smiled and hugged the older man, not able to show how grateful he was. Then he ran away again, stopping at the armory to get a sword and a crossbow, and then he ran to the field to collect his horse.

The stable boy looked truly frightened to be in a conversation with the prince. "I have orders not to let any of the horses leave sire! The royal advisor gave me the order!"

Arthur glared at the boy, angered that everyone seemed to be standing in his way of getting to Merlin.

"What's your name?"

"Milo, Sire."

"Well, Milo, I am the prince. My word comes before the royal advisors. He advises me. He does not get to tell me what to de. And besides, he's the one who told me where to find the horses. He doesn't mind that I leave. Now please step aside and let me get on my horse," Arthur said, his voice getting dangerously low. The boy, Milo, jumped to the side and yelled out an apology, not wanting to be in trouble for all of this. Arthur waved at him over his shoulder as he rode away.

OK, next chapter might be up sooner rather than later!


	15. Chapter 15

**OH MY GOD THIS HAS 70 FOLLOWERS**

 **I cannot thank you guys enough, you are amazing. Here's the chapter, hope you like it!**

CHAPTER 13

Arthur raced through the woods, avoiding every area that he knew there to be a patrol,

And after a day of riding, he arrived at the spot where Merlin was supposed to be. But

there was nothing. Not a single trace that there was ever a camp there, no signs that

hinted that Merlin had ever been there. Arthur hopped off his horse and walked through

the empty field. He looked around for foot prints, holes where their tent posts had been,

an area where there was a fire. Nothing.

Merlin and Amina led the camp through the woods, Merlin using her magic every so

often to make bandits or Uthers patrols go the other direction. They had been walking

for hours, and the younger of the kids began to get tired, and they started to fall behind.

The older teenagers carried them, but they eventually had to stop and rest. Merlin used

this time to test their magic, and asked one group to make some small fires, and

another group to go catch some food, and the rest to just practice with each other.

Merlin and Amina were sitting on thr ground, leaning against a fallen tree. Merlin

glanced over at the girl, worried.

"Hey Amina, are you ok? Ever since you had your first vision, in Kilgarrah's cave, you

haven't been the same…" Merlin asked.

"I'm ok. Just a bit rattled i think. It's not everyday that you see your parents die, and then

have the same man that caused their death hunting you. I'm just _upset_. I don't know

what to think. I now understand why Uther has all of these people with magic trying to

kill him. I want to kill him. I want to shoot a big fire ball at his head. But I can't. It would

make me as bad as him…"

Merlin put an arm around the girls shoulders and pulled her against her side, and Amina

snuggled into Merlin.

"Hey Merlin, what if Arthur looks for us?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what if he goes to where the camp was and sees that we aren't there, isn't he

going to worry about us?"

Merlin thought for a second before she opened her bag, grabbed some paper and ink, and wrote a quick note. Then

she called for Aithusa. A minute later, the dragon appeared, jumping off the trees and

gliding down to the ground.

Aithuse ran over to Merlin and Amina like an overly excited puppy.

"Aithusa, I need you to go to the field where the camp used to be, and if Arthur shows

up, give his this note so that he can find us. When he asks you to show him the way,

find me. Do not give this to anyone else, and don't let anyone else see you ok?" The

little dragon nodded her head and Merlin promptly tied the note to Aithusa's ankle, then

the dragon ran back the way the group came, off to see of Arthur was there.

Arthur paced around the field, listening for any sounds, looking for any signs that there

had ever been people here. It was around noon, so he decided to rest there for a bit. He

grabbed his cross bow and walked into the woods to catch a bit of game.

Two squirrels and a rabbit later, Arthur was making a fire to cook lunch.

'Where _on earth could that girl have gone?'_ he thought to himself.

 _'_ _Its not like she could make a whole group of people_ _disappear_ _into this air or_

 _anything...right?'_

As Arthur was finishing his meal, he heard a sound. It was faint, but it sounded like

branches falling off a tree. He stopped chewing and listened for the slightest sound.

 _Crack_

He heard it again, closer. Standing, he drew his sword, ready for any attack that would

come. When he saw a shape and a flask of white in the trees, he bent his knees, sword

raised. But then, he saw what it was. It was a freaking dragon.

Arthur lowered his sword. There was only one reason that he could think of that would

make sense as to why there was a small dragon running toward him. Merlin.

AITHUSA POV

Go to the field, find Arthur, and give Arthur the note. Easy enough insructions. Except

Aithusa really didn't know what Arthur looked like.

 _Probably younger, Emrys' age, maybe a bit fit? Because he has to be strong?_ She

had absolutely no clue. But she ran back to the field anyway. Because Emrys wanted her

to, and even is Emrys wasn't a dragon lord, Aithusa would have done anything for her.

As Aithusa approached the field, she saw a man. He looked to be in his twenties, and had

a strong build and golden hair.

 _Is this Arthur? I think it is! I found him! Emrys will be so happy that I found her prince! I_

 _will give him the note and he will find Emrys and they will be together and Emrys will be_

 _happy with me!_ Aithusa thought, getting herself more excited than she was before.

Without thinking, she jumped off the tree branch she was perched on, and ran through

the field. Right towards Arthur.

As she got closer she noticed that he had lowered his sword and was looking at her with

an odd expression. Awe maybe? Well, she was a dragon. Surprise? Who wouldn't be

surprised to see an unknown dragon running towards them.

Aithusa stopped about ten feet from Arthur, seeing what his reaction was to her getting

so close to him. He slowly sheathed his sword and put his hands up, as if saying _Im not_

 _going to hurt you._ Taking this as a good sign, she crept closer. When she was close

enough for him to notice the paper around her ankle, he crouched down.

 _Emrys would never send me anywhere where she thought I would get hurt. This_

 _Pendragon will not hurt me. He is close to Emrys an Amina. He will_ not _hurt me._ She

thought when Arthur tried to get closer. Finally, she laid on the ground and held out her

leg, letting him take the note off of her. He read it out loud.

 _Dear Arthur_

 _If you get this, that means that you are in the field where i am supposed to be. Well, I had to leave. Uther is looking for us as I'm sure you know. I took the camp to a new location_

 _where we will be safer. Aithusa will lead you to us. Just ask her to show you the way and_

 _she will. I told her to find me when you ask._

 _I can't wait to see you,_

 _Yours truly,_

 _Merlin Emrys_

Aithusa watched him smile and she herself smiled. He looked down at her.

"Well, dragon, can you take me to Merlin?"

Aithusa stopped. Merlin? Who's Merlin…?

 _OH EMRYS IS MERLIN! MERLIN IS EMRYS!_ She thought, proud of herself for figuring

it out. After Arthur got on his horse, Aithusa bounded back across the field and through

the trees, excited to get back to her Dragonlord.

MERLIN POV

It had been a few hours since Merlin had sent Aithusa off to see if Arthur was looking

for them. Personally, she had no doubts that Arthur wouldn't run around the world to find

her, but the others were still weary of the idea of a Pendragon coming to their camp. No

matter how many times Merlin told them that Arthur would never hurt her or them, they

remained bit suspicious.

Finally, after the long hours the group spent walking, Merlin saw the druid camp in the

distance. Amina saw it too, and yelled out in joy, happy to finally reach their destination.

The group approached the camp and the elders walked out from a tent and when they

saw Merlin, they all smiled warmly at her.

"Emrys, we are glad to see you. Our seer has had us waiting for your arrival." the leader

said. After getting all of the kids settled in a large tent, Merlin and Nila walked to the

Elders tent and they sat across from them.

"Now Emrys, please explain why you have brought this, rather large, group of children

to us."

After Merlin and Nila finished telling the elders their story, they heard a commotion outside

the tent.

"Its Aithusa!" one of the kids yelled. Merlin jumped out and ran out of the tent.

When she got out of the tent and looked around, she saw, riding in their direction, Arthur.

Merlin pushed to the front of the crowd, and waved her hands above her head.

Arthur had finally found her.

 **OK! Here's another chapter. Because of Christmas break, I'll be posting a bit more, as often as I can! Please leave reviews and let me know if there's anything you want me to add to the story!**


	16. Chapter 16

**OK guys, I am having serious trouble finishing this story. I really want to though! So comment what you want and how you want the story to end so i can get some ideas of what to do, thanks!**


	17. Chapter 17

**I AM A TERRIBLE WRITER WHO TAKES A LONG TIME TO POST I AM SO SORRY!OK, so here's the next chapter, but it's a bit of a filler so that I can get the plot back to where I want it to go. Thank you so much, any of you guys who commented and suggested what to do with the rest of the story, it was a huge help on figuring out what to do next. So without further ado, the filler chapter!**

Arthur had finally found her.

Merlin ran toward Arthur and Arthur stopped his horse and jumped off. Merlin ran straight into his waiting arms, and she held on for life.

Arthur grabbed Merlin's when she jumped into his arms and held her close to him, happy that she is safe, unharmed, and in his arms.

"Merlin, I have never been happier to see you, are you ok?" Arthur asked when they finally leaned back from each other. Merlin smiled at him, "I have never been better."

Merlin and Arthur walked back to where the rest of the druids were. Much to Merlin's dismay, many of the druids looked at Arthur as if he was a cockroach, unwanted in their homes. Merlin frowned and latched onto Arthur's arm as they walked to where the elders were.

"Emrys, you have brought a Pendragon here. May I inquire as to why you have done that?" one of them asked.

"I brought him here because of many reasons. Arthur and I are together, I wouldn't want to be here without him by my side."

"And I would never let her face my father without help. I don't support him or what he believes in. I haven't for some time. I regret the things I have done in the past, I was uneducated and ignorant. I am not like that anymore, or I would not have come here, I would be out with my father. Who is out looking for Merlin as we speak," Arthur said, pulling Merlin closer to him. The elders eyed him, looking for any giveaway that he was lying, or any reason that he would be. Merlin looked at the elders and smiled at them, silently telling them that Arthur was only there to help. That he would never leave her alone.

After the elders decided that Arthur was not a threat, they nodded and smiled back, glad to have more help.

"Well, Arthur, it looks like we're stuck with you," one of them teased, "I'm glad that you have had a change of heart. Do you know where your father is currently?

Arthur replied, "I left as soon as I could. I convinced the people in the castle that my father was wrong and I grabbed a horse and headed here. Last I heard of him he was headed the opposite way. Following Merlin's fake track. But I don't think that will fool him for long. He will eventually notice that they are fake."

The elders told Arthur and Merlin to go and relax for a while so they could talk about the situation. Merlin led Arthur to her tent and the two of them ducked inside.

Arthur sat on Merlin's cot and Merlin sat next to him, pushing herself as close to him as she could. Arthur laughed and sat back on the cot, pulling Merlin onto his lap. Merlin laughed at him but she didn't object. She wrapped her arms around his neck and the two of them sat like that together in the tent, and they didn't think about Uther or all the people they needed to protect, or what they were going to do later, they just clung together and enjoyed being with each other.

After a long time, Merlin pulled back a bit and looked at Arthur. He had a bit of dirt smudged on his cheek, and his hair was blown back from being on the horse. His deep blue eyes looked straight back at her, and he leaned forward and kissed her. It wasn't rushed, it wasn't hard, and it was gentle and easy and full of love. Merlin kissed back, not caring that Amina could walk in at any time.

After a while, they both had to pull back to breath. Arthur leaned forward again to capture Merlin's lips with his own. The kiss got more heated and became a full on make out session. Arthur slipped one of his hands under Merlin's shirt, feeling her skin and running his calloused fingers over her scars, wondering the story behind each one. His fingers grazed her sides and Merlin laughed and jerked back, falling off Arthur's lap and onto the floor. Arthur was too busy laughing himself to help her up, so Merlin pulled herself to her feet and laid back on the cot, her head on Arthur's lap and her feet dangling off the end.

"Merlin, I didn't know you were ticklish!" Arthur got out between laughs.

"Ya, ha-ha laugh it up. It's my one true weakness," Merlin replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm sure I'll find more," Arthur winked down at Merlin, who put her hands over her face to hide her blushing

Arthur finally muffled his laughing and put his hands in her hair, playing with it. Merlin sighed and snuggled closer to him, enjoying the feeling of her hair being played with. Arthur continued to run his fingers through her hair, hoping that his father would see reason and that he could live happily with Merlin. After a half hour passed of being lost in thought, Arthur noticed that Merlin was asleep. He chuckled and moved out from under her head, letting her get sleep, knowing that she probably hasn't gotten much recently.

Arthur sat on the ground and leaned back against the cot, and after a few minutes, he dozed off as well.

Arthur woke up to see a small face a few inches from his. Jumping back, he tried to not to instinctively punch whoever was in front of his face, he saw that it was Amina.

"Oh, Anima, you scared me!" he yelled out.

Amina smiled at his and put her hands behind her back. "The elders want to talk to you and Merlin right now. They sent me to get you guys!"

Arthur nodded and looked at the cot behind him, and saw that it was empty. Arthur looked around the tent, but saw no sign of Merlin.

"She's already up and on her way to the elder's tent, "Anima said.

Arthur nodded again, still not awake enough to think very clearly. He stood up and walked out of the tent and through the camp to the other side where the elders were. When he got into the tent he saw all of the elders sitting around a small table, Merlin sitting among them. He sat down next to Merlin and looked at her for an explanation about what was going on. Merlin shrugged, not knowing herself, why they were called.

One of the elders, an old woman with grey straight hair and bright green eyes, leaned forward and smiled at them.

"Emrys, Arthur, you two are unique in the sense that you two love each other even though there are huge differences between your lives and upbringings and traditions. But, because of that, there are always going to be problems and bumps. Not everyone supports the ban on magic, not everyone supports the use of magic. There will always be people who will fight against you two being together. You saw that in your father, Arthur, and when you arrived there were also people who wanted you to leave. Not only leave the camp, but to leave Emrys. I had to fight off a few of our group who came to me to try to get you out of here. I would hear none of it of course, you have brought us nothing but help. Those who came to me all said the same thing, that a Pendragon had no place in our camp, and had no right to be with Emrys. There will always be people like that, and you two will have to ignore it. You must not let what others think change the way you act or who you are with. When people say that you two should not be together, you have to brush it aside. One of our seers have seen you two together in Camelot, with the crown. It will most likely happen, that you will become the next rulers of Camelot, but please, do not stray from that path because of others. It would sadden me greatly to see you two leave your destiny because not everyone accepts you."

Arthur was blushing at the thought that one day Merlin would be his queen, and that she would be with him forever. Merlin was beaming at her elder, delighted that her elder supported her and Arthur, that there was a future for them, and that she would get to have a happy ending. The elder let them think about her words for a minute, then she nodded to one of the others.

A man, older than anyone else in the camp, spoke up next. "Emrys, we need to leave this area. Seers have seen others rampage and what he will do. He is looking everywhere for you and Arthur. It is neither your or Arthur's fault for others rampage. It is no one's fault but his own. His anger has blinded him from living a happy peaceful life. We need to leave this area and hide the children and the rest of us. Emrys, do you think you could do that?"

Merlin thought for a minute, expressing some of her concerns out loud.

"So, I probably could cast an invisibility spell on everyone, God knows I'm good at them, but what if I slip, or if Uther literally RUNS into where we are? And if we are all in one area it would be very easy for him to find us. There is a phrase that my mom said a lot when our neighbors would ask her why animals never got her food, she would say, "Never keep all your eggs in one basket!" so I mean, it would be like shooting sitting ducks if he found us. Plus, he would attack all of the other druid camps looking for us."

Merlin kept rambling on and on about all of the 'what ifs' that she thought of. Finally, Arthur leaned towards her and placed a hand over her mouth.

"Merlin, you can't worry about every single thing. You can never know what the enemy is going to do next, and you never know how a situation will play out. Remember every time we were on a patrol and bandits would attack and take a few of our supplies or hurt a knight? Those are the what ifs that you can't predict." he whispered. Merlin's shoulders relaxed and she slouched forward, giving up on stressing out about the unknown.

For the next few hours, the elders, Merlin, and Arthur devised a plan to keep everyone safe, and to remain as peaceful as they could until forced otherwise. The plan was set.


	18. Chapter 18

Ok guys, I am really sorry, but I realized that writing isn't really what I'm good at. I feel so bad because i keep getting emails and reviews, and I know that you guys want more chapters, but I'm not good at writing so I wont be finishing this. If any of you guys want to take this fanfiction and rewrite it or continue it you can, i wont mind at all. I'm so sorry that I wont be finishing it.


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